Nikolai Is Not Your Savior
A tall woman wearing a short black leather skirt entered the room carrying a tray of drinks. She winked at Vera then stumbled towards Merri according to their plan. Nikolai's eyes flashed with a murderous gleam as he noticed her intention and quickly pulled Merri behind him.
The woman twisted her body making sure the tray of drinks landed in Merri's direction. The glasses spilled, splashing Merri and the bottles of wine rolled towards the couch.
Sprawled on the floor, the server quickly apologized in Russian as she fixed her high heel. Inwardly cursing Nikolai because he caused her to fall, she stood up then rubbed her ankle.
Vera jumped up from the couch and rushed over then slapped the woman, "Clumsy fool!"
The woman glared at Vera but didn't dare say a word, she knew Vera's temper and hadn't been paid yet.
Vera quickly said, "I will take you to the ladies room and help you clean the dress."
Nikolai refused, "No. I will."
Merri guessed Vera orchestrated this play, she saw them exchange looks when the woman entered the room. It was a move she was quite familiar with after dealing with Blair Pennington and her friends.
She wanted to clear the air and let Vera know she wasn't a soft persimmon, so she convinced Nikolai it would be more convenient for Vera to accompany her.
Nikolai was reluctant but agreed, speaking Russian he warned Vera, "Don't play any tricks or you will regret it."
Vera and Merri walked downstairs and through the crowded bar. With a malicious smile Vera nodded at three rough looking men standing by the dance floor.
The two women silently walked towards the ladies room with Vera unaware of her plan being disrupted at the moment. The three thugs Vera hired didn't have a chance to approach because several muscular men in black suits blocked the hallway.
The three thugs were local gangsters and easily frightened by the intimidating wall of flesh looming in front of them. Thinking the job wasn't worth the money Vera paid they turned on their heels and ran away.
While speaking Chinese, one man ordered, "Grab the blonde woman, she is the one the boss wants!"
Merri had entered the restroom and Vera hesitated when she heard the unfamiliar man's voice. Turning around she didn't have any time to utter a word before everything went dark and she fell to the ground. The man dragged her into the ladies room.
Merri was flushing the toilet then a large hand covered her mouth. She struggled and tried to pry the man's strong hands off but to no avail. The man dragged her out of the stall and threatened, "Come quietly or we will kill your friend."
Merri's eyes widened when she saw a fierce looking Chinese man holding a knife to Vera's throat. Vera's face was bruised and swollen, she was being held by her hair and appeared unconscious. Merri quivered thinking even if Vera wanted to play a trick on her she wouldn't be so cruel to herself. Who could these men be? Human traffickers?
Scared to death she nodded then the man took his hand away. Her eyes were watery and she sounded panicked, "Don't hurt her."
"If you don't cause any problems the bitch will be let go once you are delivered." Stupid woman! I heard the three Russian gangsters discussing how they were going to rape you It was obviously set up by your friend.
Merri's eyelashes trembled and her voice was soft, "I won't."
Satisfied with her answer the man opened the restroom door and Merri walked out next to him.
In the parking lot, Alexi was stepping out of a silver Porsche when he witnessed Merri being led to a black van by several Chinese men. He narrowed his eyes, Nikolai, you claimed sovereignty but you can't even protect the little girl? Let her be dragged away by that Chinese bastard!
He smirked as he got back into the sportscar…very good…I will rescue the little fool and keep her as mine.
The black van sped away unaware Alexi was following.
In the backseat, Merri was terrified and muttered, "Who are you? What do you want?"
The man guarding her ignored her question and growled, "Shut up! Don't make a problem and nothing will happen to you."
He texted Meng Po, [Got the girl.]
[Take her to LuLu's place]
He told the man driving the van, "Lulu's"
The rain was getting heavier and the driver turned up the windshield wipers to full speed. He looked in the rearview mirror with an ugly expression on his face."Fuck! LuLu's is clear across town and it is raining like a motherfucker."
"I don't know why the boss changed the location but he must have his reasons."
Merri looked out the window at the heavy downpour and anxiously clutched her dress. If he keeps driving this fast we are going to have an accident!
She mustered up her courage, "Could you slow down?"
Alexi's sportscar hugged the road as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Familiar with the road he furrowed his eyebrows, are they crazy? The bend in the road up ahead is treacherous and if they don't slow down they will end up in the fucking river!
Suddenly he heard the screech of tires on the slippery road then saw the van careening into the guardrail.
The van slid against the metal then the old guardrail bent and the bolts loosened. Below was a straight drop to the swollen river. When the driver couldn't stop the van he screamed, "Ming, jump!"as he opened the driver side door and rolled out of the car.
Not caring about Merri, he followed the driver's advice and leapt out of the van as it rolled down the the steep slope, below was a straight drop to the swollen river.
Alexi stopped the sportscar not far away and rushed down the slope then dove into the raging river as the van began to sink. Braving the freezing temperature of the water he swam to the van.
Inside the van, Merri unlocked the seatbelt and frantically tried to open the door. The pressure of the water was too much and the door wouldn't open. As she struggled she heard the sound of someone kicking the window. Did the kidnappers have a sudden attack of conscience?
Alexi took out a dagger from his pocket attempting to pry the window down. Merri heard the scratching sound and pressed on the window button praying it would open.
As the window came down a large hand reached in and grabbed her arm. Alexi was almost out of breath as he pulled her out of the sinking vehicle. Holding Merri, he hurriedly swam upwards towards the surface of the water. When he reached the surface he gasped and took in a breath of cold air.
The current was strong and he had no choice but to say in a hoarse voice. "Hold on." We are going to have to go with the flow of the river.
Merri was clinging onto him and choking from the water rushing into her mouth unable to respond.
He held her tightly as the raging water carried them downstream. Alexi noticed a tree that had fallen into the river and desperately grabbed onto the trunk. By this time Merri was unconscious and he was holding her by her thin waist. He used all his strength to pull the both of them up and crawl to safety.
Once on shore he gazed at the unconscious girl in his arms and a small cabin not far away. That must be someone's fishing cabin.
At the club when Merri didn't come back from the ladies room Nikolai was worried. He rushed downstairs and when he arrived at the ladies room a woman was screaming. He burst in the door and saw Vera lying on the floor, she had been beaten and her hair was matted with blood.
The woman who screamed was standing motionlessly by Vera's body when Nikolai grabbed her arm, "Where is the other woman?"
The woman looked at him and muttered, "No..no one else was here when I came in…only..only.." She pointed at Vera.
Nikolai's face was bloodless as he stormed through the club to find Larus. When he saw him sitting with a woman laughing, he grabbed him by the collar. His jaw was clenched and he had a threatening tone. "Take me to the security room. NOW!"
Larus put down his drink, "What the hell Nik!"
A man in a black suit weaved through the dance floor and motioned to the man next to Larus.
Larus stood up, "What's going on?"
"You have a half dead woman bleeding out in the ladies room. I didn't think you wanted the trouble so I told Morris to take her to a nearby clinic. If she dies on the way I told him to get rid of the body."
Larus' eyes bulged out of his head and he leaned towards Nikolai's ear, "You fucking almost killed some bitch in my Club?
"No.If I wanted her dead she would be dead. Take me to the security room."
While Nikolai followed Larus to the security room Alexi was carrying Merri wrapped in his black trench coat to the fishing cabin he saw.
The rain pouring down making it difficult to maneuver through the fallen leaves. Wearing leather dress shoes he slipped several times on wet leaves as he rushed through the woods.
When he got to the cabin he knocked on the door, when no one answered he kicked the wooden door open.
With the moonlight filtering through the window he located a chair and propped Merri on it, not wanting to get the small bed he saw wet.
He was shivering from the cold as he searched the small cabin for a lighter. He finally found one in a cupboard and lit a kerosene lamp. Once the cabin was illuminated he noticed a fireplace with wood stacked next to it. He quickly piled the wood into the fireplace and placed twigs in between to start the fire.
Once a small flame flickered he blew on it and rubbed his hands together over the slowly igniting wood. At least this will heat the room a little.
He pulled over a chair then grimaced looking at the three million dollar watch on his wrist and removed it. He reached into his pocket for his phone and set both ruined items on the chair.
He then took off the wet gray silk shirt he was wearing, pants, underwear, shoes and socks. Alexi draped the soaked clothes over the back. I need to get the little mouse out of that dress or she will get a fever.
Alexi searched the room and couldn't find any clothes. All that was in one cupboard were two blankets and a few towels. He took the mattress off the bed and dragged it in front of the fireplace. He then grabbed two towels and a blanket then walked over to Merri slumped in the chair.
Gazing at the disheveled and drenched girl his expression was gloomy. Her face was deathly pale and her lips had a light blue tinge. The little girl has no internal energy; she might have hypothermia.
After quickly stripping the dress she was wearing off of her he dried her body and hair. He wrapped her in a blanket and carried her to the mattress.
He stoked the fire then got the other blanket from the cupboard.
Alexi sighed as he laid down next to the beautiful naked girl. This isn't how I imagined taking you from Nikolai but little mouse, I won't give you back. My body craves you as though you are a drug I am addicted to and don't want to give up. I thought about you night and day while I was in England only to find my best friend had stolen you away from me,
He covered both of them with the blankets and hugged her bare body, sending his internal energy into her. Touching her lips with his finger he whispered, "If I hadn't seen them taking you away you would have died in a watery grave. Fate wants us to be together. Nikolai is too weak to protect you…I should tell you the truth…he isn't your savior, he is the man who drugged you and put you in my bed."
Alexi tenderly kissed her lips and caressed her cheek as he tightened his hands around her thin waist.